Faking It
by SixEcho
Summary: Smallville High’s newest student is the billionaire, Lex Luthor, who is forced to go undercover as a regular teenager. Unfortuantely there's one thing standing in his way: Chloe Sullivan.
1. Persuasion

Title: Faking It  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Summary: Smallville High's newest student is the billionaire, Lex Luthor, who is forced to go undercover as a regular teenager.  
  
Chapter 1: Persuasion  
  
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The large office lingered in silence as Lex leaned back in his chair, mulling over his present predicament. Two other men sat before him, one older and dressed just as sharply as Lex; the younger sat passively avoiding eye contact with anyone.  
  
"If this situation continues, your plant will be shut down for good, Lex." the older man frowned. "I'll be forced to advise my superiors to do so."  
  
"Firstly, you call me Mr Luthor, detective and secondly, I'm well aware of the current situation." the billionaire said evenly as he spun a pen between his fingers. He couldn't believe he had to deal with this crap on top of everything else that had happened recently. Bad things always happened at once though.  
  
The detective let out a sigh and tossed a folder onto the table, "We've narrowed own the list of suspects..."  
  
"I wouldn't call twelve hundred pages 'narrowing down'" Lex stated bluntly, glaring at the wad of paper.  
  
"It's hard to believe, but lots of people actually dislike you enough to steal from you," the detective continued dryly, glancing at his partner who still looked like a bug about to be squashed.  
  
Lex ignored the detective's tone and continued, "I wouldn't mind about the money so much... but this person is using it to fund a drug ring? At a high school?" he continued in a somewhat disbelief.  
  
"Smallville High isn't all about football and farming anymore. Your plant brought many workers and their families to this town over the years. Needless to say, Metropolis kids are a little more wayward than most."  
  
"Don't I know it." Lex murmured thoughtfully. Any way you sliced it, Smallville was going to blame him for the whole mess... even if just one of their precious teens were hurt. He was in a whole lot of crap.  
  
"So how do you propose solving this problem?" Lex asked, glancing between the two detectives.  
  
"It's a very delicate situation. There's one extortionist at the plant, with a link to someone at the high school, that's where the drugs were confiscated from. So far we've managed to conceal the story, but we can't hide it forever, the paper trail leads directly to LuthorCorp. We'll need to have someone working around the clock to-"  
  
"Get to the point, detective," Lex said with an almost frustrated sigh.  
  
"Someone needs to work undercover at Smallville High. The rookie here is the only one who looks young enough for the job." the detective stated, motioning towards his partner.  
  
Lex rose and walked to the other side of the desk sceptically. "At the high school? I can't allow you to create a scene there.... if anyone gets hurt-"  
  
"You'll never be able to forgive yourself?" the younger detective piped up.  
  
"I was going to say that it'll be bad press for LuthorCorp.... but, sure, I guess I'm worried about the kids too," Lex continued. He thought of the teens of Smallville that he'd grown attached to.. he wasn't about to let them get hurt.  
  
"I take it you're the one Metropolis PD sent for the undercover work?" Lex asked the younger man.  
  
"Er... yes sir." he mumbled back.  
  
"So what is your plan of action? Say you see a group of kids that might be involved in this drug ring... how do you plan to infiltrate their little circle?"  
  
"Well... I'll, um... introduce myself. Maybe ask if I can sit with them at lunch... or buy them coffee...?"  
  
Lex sighed and looked up to the ceiling in frustration.  
  
"You're telling me that your plan is to go up to an eighteen year old drug dealer and ask him out to coffee?" he snapped. "He'll probably kick the crap out of you... before flushing your head in a toilet."  
  
"I... I..." the rookie detective stuttered, trying desperately to think. "I could casually slip the subject of drugs into the conversation?"  
  
Lex clenched his jaw, drawing on the last of his patience, "Can't you get someone else to do this?" he demanded, turning to the older man.  
  
"We're understaffed as it is, and since it involves a government high school, you can't hand the case over to private agency."  
  
Lex sighed, considering his options. If the situation wasn't resolved quickly, it could cause serious hassles for LuthorCorp.... the scandal would be huge. Funding a local drug deal usually had that effect, and his father was in no condition to bail him out this time.  
  
"You seem to know a lot about these kind of kids, Mr Luthor..." the detective said, slowly forming a plan. "You probably have more experience in this area than anyone in my department..."  
  
Lex raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms defensively, "You can forget about that idea right now. I'm a busy man, I don't have time to gallivant around a high school, introducing myself to potential drug addicts."  
  
"Even if it saves lives? I don't see another way out, Mr Luthor... it might be our only hope. You have the advantage of knowing these people."  
  
Lex sighed in frustration. He could not believe the predicament he was in. "I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to make this go away but I'm not prepared to do *your* job. Besides... people would recognize me."  
  
The detective thought for a second then motioned for his partner to leave the room. The younger man nodded quickly and scrambled out the door, almost relieved.  
  
"I can have a specialized team to give you a perfect disguise, not even your best friend would notice. Exactly how many people have a chance of recognising you?" The detective continued.  
  
"Well... there's the Kent's boy, Lana Lang, Pete and the Sullivan girl. I guess they'd be easy enough to fool." Lex said before lapsing into thought. "Then there's the problem of identification, birth certificate..."  
  
"All taken care of, you can use the ID we were going to give the rookie. Your alias will be Raymond Shoeland."  
  
Lex's eyebrows shot up, "You're kidding? No wonder the rookie didn't want the job, couldn't the Met PD come up with a better name?"  
  
"We were in a slight hurry, it was the best we could do. Your course selection will be taken care of, you'll just need to register for grade twelve." The man continued, hopefully.  
  
Lex frowned in thought.... Surely Gabe would be able to handle things for a while... It wasn't like it took a lot of effort to process crap.  
  
"Fine, I'm in... but I refuse to do homework." Lex stated, thoroughly irritated.  
  
"It's settled then, Mr Luthor." the detective said with a satisfactory grin.  
  
"You're Smallville High's newest student."  
  
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Please Review : ) Good enough start? 


	2. First Dayz

Wow, thanks for the reviews guys! I need to set the whole plot first before I get to the shipperness, but I *am* going to get there;)  
  
Chapter 2: First Dayz  
  
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Lex's sneakers squeaked to a halt outside the large grey building. There were so many other things he could be doing now, but instead he was *here* at Smallville High. He'd been awake since 5 am that morning, playing dress up with a team of specialists and from what he could tell, he didn't look anything like the suave, poised Lex Luthor anymore.  
  
After an intense session of arguing, they'd finally settled on a rusty coloured wig, with a slight tint of red for him to wear. It was just the right length, almost curly... enough to make him look like a teenager, without sacrificing too much of his dignity. Clothes had been a monumental issue... apparently the elegant casual suite was not 'in' at the moment, especially not in Smallville. The loose fitting pair of jeans, red shirt and denim jacket were all he had to work with.  
  
Lex shifted the backpack over his shoulder, pulled on a baseball cap and with a determined growl strode through the doors of the school, making a direct line for the office. He earned more than a few stares, whispers and giggles from a group of girls, but he ignored them. He was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him.  
  
"Is that him?" Lana asked, tugging on Clark's sleeve impatiently.  
  
"After standing here for an hour, all the guys that walk through that door are starting to look the same," Clark said yawning. "I guess I better find out if that's the new guy before Chloe injures me,"  
  
Clark side stepped his way through the crowd to catch up to the other boy.  
  
"Excuse me? Are you..." he glanced down at his piece of paper. "Raymond?"  
  
Lex's stride immediately halted as he quickly diverted his eyes. "Yes... I am." he admitted. He couldn't believe his luck... he'd been in the school for all of twenty seven seconds and who was the first person he was cornered by? Clark Kent.  
  
"Hi, I'm Clark. I work for the Torch-"  
  
"That's the school newspaper," Lana cut in smiling at the new student. "I'm Lana."  
  
Lex looked to the ground, edging back slowly in hopes of escape.  
  
Clark took a step forwards, "I'm supposed to do an article on the new students from Metropolis, and I'd really like to ask you a few-"  
  
"Sure, definitely," Lex nodded, pulling his baseball cap down further, "I just have to register at the office and maybe I'll catch up with you later, okay? It was great meeting you two, I'll see you around."  
  
Lex swiftly disappeared back into the flow of the people. He did *not* intend on seeing either of them any time soon. At least the disguise had worked, even though the hair made him look like part of a third rate boy band. He quickly stepped into the main office, and looked around.  
  
"Hi there," the cheery lady said, putting on her glasses, "How can I help you."  
  
"I'm Raymond Shoeland." Lex stated almost wincing at the sound of the name.  
  
"Shoeland... Oh yes! Our new student from Metropolis, we've got quite a few other students from there, what with all the new jobs popping up around the plant. Those Luthors really-"  
  
"I'm sure this conversation could last a while, but I'd really like to pick up my time table and get to class," Lex interrupted bluntly. The woman's high pitched voice was giving him a headache.  
  
"Well of course, you must be excited for your first day! Don't worry, you'll make new friends quickly," she babbled on merrily while typing on her computer.  
  
"Here we are, Raymond," the woman said as she handed him the printout. "Now remember if anyone bullies you or peer pressures you into drinking-"  
  
"What is this?!" Lex snapped at the woman while staring at the paper. "I refuse to do gym!" It was bad enough that he had to drive around in a pick up truck and look eighteen year old farm kid... he wasn't going to add gym to the hell that was his life.  
  
"You really must control your temper Mr Shoeland," the woman stated, looking over the top of her glasses at Lex as she typed away.  
  
Lex bit back a remark and regained his smoothness, "I apologize, but there seems to be a mistake. Couldn't you switch gym with something else?"  
  
"Hm... well, there's an English Literature class that-"  
  
"Perfect. I speak English, it should be a breeze." Lex stated. Anything was better than running around a gym like a headless chicken for an hour. Right now he had to sort out what he was really there for...  
  
"Could you tell me where they keep the student records? I'd like to see if anyone I know from Metropolis is around here." Lex asked, his words dripping with insincere politeness.  
  
"I think they were taken to the Torch Office, you could check there. So I guess you're all set then." the woman grinned at him, "Your locker number is 146B and your first class begins in fifteen minutes, I suggest you hurry along young man."  
  
Lex gave the woman a forced smile, "Of course... I wouldn't want to be late for my first day."  
  
Swinging his backpack over a shoulder he stepped out of the office and into the bustling hallway of Smallville high. The teens were wrapped up in high pitched sequels of delight as they were reunited with friends they hadn't seen in weeks. Lex reminded himself that as soon as he did his job, he could get the hell out of there. His eyes scanned over the hallway... jock... nerd... Miss high school spirit... nope, no hard core drug dealers yet.  
  
At least the Torch was where he remembered. Slowly he cracked the door open and turned on the lights, making his way to the cluttered desk. It was obvious that the room hadn't been used in a whole summer. Before he had a chance to finger through the files, he heard two female voices down the hallway. He could *not* be caught in here.  
  
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Chloe? I'd hate to see you get hurt... at least let Clark in on it." Lana sighed following her friend.  
  
"Relax, Lana. I'm fine," Chloe groaned, heading into her office. "The last thing I need is Clark telling me it's too dangerous. Besides, I'm so close, I can feel it."  
  
Lana shrugged, settling into a seat, "Nobody else is concerned about it."  
  
"Smallville High might be too scared to speak out about the drugs, but I'm not. I'm going to get this story if it's the last thing I do, and if I happen to hurt people's feelings along the way I'll apologize... later." Chloe compensated. "This is too important."  
  
Neither girl noticed the young man crammed uncomfortably beneath the desk in hiding. He'd had no idea his elbow could twist at that angle and *still* remain attached to his body. One thing was certain though, he couldn't be caught going through files, especially not here.  
  
"The only way to get the evidence I need is to pretend to be their friends... everyone knows that Kevin and his little drug-scout club are behind all of this. I'm so close to being a part of them. Don't screw this up for me, Lana. Kent can't find out about this one." Chloe insisted.  
  
Lana shook her head, "Do what you want Chloe, but there are only so many people Clark can save at once... he might not be around when you need help, and you *will* need help."  
  
"I'll be careful." Chloe gave in, "You could help too if you wanted?"  
  
"I'd rather not," Lana admitted.  
  
"You wouldn't have to do what I'm doing... you could uh... do research and stuff?" Chloe suggested sitting on top of her desk.  
  
"You're only doing this so that I won't tell Clark and Pete." Lana stated, folding her arms accusingly.  
  
"Is it working?" Chloe hopefully asked.  
  
Lana smiled, "Fine, I'll help... but the second things get out of hand, I'm telling."  
  
"Don't worry, I've got everything under control. Nothing bad is going to happen," Chloe reassured her.  
  
"Whatever you say... So, did you see the new guy?" Lana smiled. "Clark cornered him this morning."  
  
"No I didn't, but I hope Clark got his bio, because I need the article by the end of today. Why?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Only because *every* girl in school is talking about how hot he is!" Lana said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I think it's the hair, he's got really nice hair..."  
  
"School hasn't even started yet, how could news about him get around so fast?" Chloe groaned. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be focussing on your tormented love for Clark?"  
  
Lana sighed, "That's a whole other story... anyway, we should get going, class is starting soon." Lana said, heading out the door, "You coming?"  
  
"You go ahead, I'm working on the Bad Chloe. If she shows up late to class then Kevin might think I'm a terrible person and maybe he'll invite me to one of his little druggie gatherings." Chloe explained, then paused when she saw the other girl roll her eyes.  
  
"I'm going to do whatever it takes!" she called as Lana left the room.  
  
Lex was still motionless beneath the table in an awkward position. Hadn't the situation been crappy enough? Now he had to worry about Chloe and Lana getting hurt. Why couldn't they report on the annoyance of overfriendly office staff instead?  
  
Chloe sat still on the desk, pondering the situation before giving the wood a sharp knock.  
  
"You can come out now!"  
  
Lex jumped at the sound of her voice, colliding his knee against the edge of the desk, inducing his colourful use of profanities. With as much dignity as he could muster he crawled from beneath the table and rose from the floor. She'd known he was there.  
  
"How did you..." Lex trailed away as he dusted him self off.  
  
Chloe was a little startled when she saw the tall form appear before her. She'd figured the intruder had just been some freshman who'd come into her office to hide away from the terror of High School... *not* whoever was standing in front of her right now.  
  
"I guess the backpack lying on my floor gave me a hint, but the biggest clue was your huge sneaker sticking out from under my desk," Chloe's voice rose a little higher with annoyance.  
  
"You think I have big feet?" Lex asked insulted.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" she snapped, ignoring his question.  
  
"Uh... I was looking for the bathroom," he said innocently.  
  
"Does this look like a bathroom?" Chloe asked patronisingly slow.  
  
"Well is doesn't look like any office I've ever been in," Lex matched her tone. He looked the small girl straight in the eyes, not worrying about being recognized. If Lana or Clark hadn't noticed, then the snarky blonde definitely wouldn't-  
  
"Do I know you from somewhere?" Chloe asked bluntly. There was something about the way he stood... with such a condescending air about him. like he had something shoved up-  
  
"That's a pretty bad pick up line," Lex covered with a sneer, grabbing his back pack from the floor.  
  
"Oh... I remember you now." Chloe said snapping her fingers, "Aren't you the guy from the impotency add on tv?" she asked curiously. Whoever he was, one thing was for certain. She didn't like him.  
  
Lex tossed her a withering glare before brushing past her. He didn't have time to deal with sarcastic reporters.  
  
"You know you're in way over your head with this drug situation," he said, glancing behind him one more time at the furious girl. "Go write an teen advice column or something and leave this thing alone."  
  
He slipped out the office before the girl could shoot back a retort. As soon as he did, the shrill bell rang out across the school, and within seconds the hallway was empty.  
  
"Perfect," he mumbled. The whole plan was totally messed up now... and on top of everything else.... he was late for biology.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Please Review! Sorry it took so long to put this up. I was trapped in the third dimension of hell, also known as band camp. 


	3. Negotiations

Chapter 3: Negotiations  
  
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After surveying the culinary delights of the cafeteria, Lex decided to skip the meal and just go with a vanilla coke. If he concentrated really hard, he could pretend it had alcohol in it. He glanced around the hall for an empty table and hoped that the giggling girls at the next table would start discussing nail polishing techniques and stop smiling at him. Blinding white teeth could be distracting at times.  
  
"There he is!" Clark said, pointing at the unsuspecting Luthor. Chloe barely managed to keep up with Clark as he made his way over to the table.  
  
Lex groaned and glanced sideways for an escape route, but he found himself trapped by the blinding flashes on white teeth from all sides.  
  
Chloe halted when she realised that the new kid was the guy she'd run into earlier, "You." Chloe stated bluntly at Lex, settling in an opposite seat.  
  
"You." Lex countered.  
  
"You know Raymond?" Clark asked, taking a seat next to Chloe.  
  
"We met. Now go do your job, Kent." Chloe ordered. She'd had a really bad day, failed a physics quiz, hadn't managed to find Kevin, and hadn't expose the drug ring either... and it was already noon.  
  
"Right... so uh, why did you came to Smallville?" Clark asked, sticking a tape recorder into Lex's face.  
  
"My... uh... dad got transferred here from Metropolis," Lex explained.  
  
"That would be Mr Shoeland?" Clark asked.  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Well done Clark, now stick to the questions of the paper. Don't go creative on me."  
  
"Well if you think you could do a better job, be my guest," Clark stated slowly. "Why are you in such a bad mood anyway? Nobody likes a critic, Chloe."  
  
"Critics teach us about ourselves... they're supposed to be our friends. I would have to say that your reporter friend is an exception to the rule though." Lex added coolly. If he was forced to spend time in this hell, he might as well dispense a little good advice on the way.  
  
Chloe paused for a moment, feeling the strangest sense of dejavu. Suddenly it dawned on her... that I'm-better-than-everyone-else tone, those affluent eyes...  
  
"You!" Chloe said, slamming her palms on the table and leaning over to Lex.  
  
Clark looked confused, between the surprised boy and angry girl, "We went there already, Chloe... It's him, Raymond Shoe-"  
  
"Don't tell me you don't recognize him? Stop and look at him for a second!" Chloe's voice rose in pitch.  
  
Clark wondered if his best friend had gone insane. "Well... he does kind of remind me of..." he paused in thought.  
  
"A larger version of Seth Green?" Clark offered.  
  
Chloe groaned, she was slightly embarrassed that she hadn't noticed it before. Nobody had.  
  
"He's Lex Luth-" Chloe stopped mid-sentence as Lex kicked her foot beneath the table in hopes of silencing her.  
  
"Er... I'm Lex Luthor's... cousin," the billionaire ended quickly. He sighed and took another gulp of his vanilla coke, partly ashamed that he'd underestimated the power of a reporter's mind, and partly mad at her for being so nosy. Another reason why he hated their kind. Reporters.  
  
"Of course!" Clark exclaimed, "That was who you reminded me of... Lex Luthor. Of course, I think you're a little shorter than him... and you have different noses."  
  
"Okay." Lex said slowly, unsure of how to respond to the statement. He cast a sideward glance at Chloe who seemed deep in thought.  
  
"Clark, why don't you let me finish up the interview... you can go spend the rest of lunch hour with Lana and Pete." Chloe suggested to her friend.  
  
"Sure, okay." Clark shrugged, getting up, "You know I never knew Lex had a cousin."  
  
"Yeah... the Luthors and Shoelands are pretty close," Lex stated with a sardonic smile.  
  
As soon as Clark left the table, Chloe moved in like a huntress to her prey.  
  
"What on earth is Smallville's billionaire doing in high school? Is this some sort of a mid life crisis thing? Why did you tell me to stay away from the drug dealing story? Is that what this is about? Are you responsible for the drug ring? You know Kevin, don't you...? It's all part of an elaborate plan by your company to-"  
  
Chloe was stopped mid sentence as she saw Lex yawn.  
  
"Are you done yet?" Lex asked the girl who just glared at him.  
  
"Good. Now, I have never, nor will I in the future begin a drug dealing ring. Especially not in Smallville high, it's just not good business sense when all your customers get stoned then die. I'm here undercover, trying to expose this ring, and from what I gather it's run by someone named Kevin." Lex gave her the story, despite his better judgement.  
  
"So what's it got to do with you?" Chloe asked, thoroughly intrigued by the whole thing.  
  
Lex saw the reporter's eyes flash with anticipation, she wanted to know the truth and nothing was going to get in her way. Then again, she didn't realise who she was dealing with.  
  
"That's confidential information, Chloe." He cracked a smile as she glared at him.  
  
"Now, I want you to be a good little reporter and drop this story. Forget about it. It much to dangerous for someone like you to follow, I'll be getting into Kevin's group and *I'll* be exposing the ring." Lex sealed his statement firmly and took another sip of his drink.  
  
Chloe grew angrier by the second. She'd been working on this story for weeks now, who was he to go around telling her what to do?  
  
"I guess we're going to have a little competition here, because I've been trying to get Kevin's attention for the past few weeks and nothing has worked. I doubt you could do better," she spat.  
  
"Chloe... you have so much to learn..." Lex smiled at her and got up to walk away.  
  
"Where are you going?" The blonde girl demanded, following him. "We're in the middle of a discussion, you can't just get up and leave."  
  
"I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want." Lex stated, walking down the hallway. "Now do what I say and let me handle it from here."  
  
"You won't be handling anything if I expose *you*" Chloe stated. She hadn't wanted to play that card, but she didn't have a choice here.  
  
Lex stopped, "You wouldn't dare..."  
  
"Try me." Chloe challenged facing opposite him. There was no way in hell she was going to back down now.  
  
For the first time Lex realised that the small girl actually meant every word she said. He found himself rethinking the situation.  
  
"Fine, investigate if you want. It's not like you'll get very far anyway." The young man countered.  
  
"I've spent three weeks getting Kevin's attention, I'm much further than you are." Chloe folded her arms defensively.  
  
"Three weeks? I'll be the guys best friend by the end of the day," Lex laughed, heading for the bathrooms.  
  
"What makes you so confidant?" Chloe frowned suspiciously.  
  
"I have debonair qualities, that few can match. Not to mention the fact that I have more experience than you in this field," Lex tossed Chloe a final grin.  
  
"You're wasting your time, I'm completely in control here." with that he slipped into the bathroom, satisfied that he'd put the girl in her place.  
  
Chloe sighed, Lex's words rang in her ears. A few seconds later she heard the high pitched screeches from girls.  
  
"Completely in control huh?"  
  
Lex Luthor's words might have had more of an impact on her had he *not* just walked into the Girls bathroom.  
  
  
  
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Please Review: ) 


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